JOHN H. COCHRAN

John Hughes Cochran was born in Maury County, Tennessee, June 28, 1838.  He was of Scottish-Irish ancestry, and with his father, William M. Cochran, and his mother, Nancy Jane Hughes, came to Texas on March 1, 1843, and settled in what is now the Farmers Branch section of Dallas County.  His father died April 24, 1853, leaving a widow and six children; John H., William P., James M., A.M., Mary Mariah, and Margaret Elizabeth.  By his mother's wise guidance and his own efforts, John H. Cochran graduated with honors from the prestigious McKenzie Institute and taught there in 1858 and 1859.

His mother, Nancy Jane Hughes Cochran, gave the land and organized the first Methodist church in Dallas County in 1854 which is now the well-known Cochran's Chapel.  In 1969, the Dallas Board of Education dedicated the "Nancy Jane Cochran Elementary School" in her honor.

John H. Cochran took the census of the frontier county of Young in 1860.  During the year 1860, he, as a lieutenant, commanded a detachment of Texas Rangers at Fort Belknap under Governor Sam Houston.  On June 30, 1860, he married Martha Jane Johnson of Young County, daughter of R.J. and Elizabeth Johnson.  He served (1861-1865) as a private in the Confederate Army, in Company C, Sixth Texas Cavalry, until he suffered a chest injury when a cannon ball landed in front of his horse and the horse bolted into a tree.  He served as Assessor and Collector of Taxes of Dallas County from 1862 to 1866.  He respresented Dallas County if the 14th, 15th, 16th, 18th, 22nd and 23rd Sessions of the Texas Legislature, and he was twice Speaker of the House of Representatives and rendered marked service to the State on the subject of Education, Taxation and Revenue.  Under the appointment of President Cleveland, he served four years as Postmaster of Dallas.  In 1884, he was a candidate for governor of Texas from Dallas County.

John H. Cochran and his wife, Martha Jane had seven children:  William Roland, James A., John Thomas, George W. "Jack", Martha Elizabeth, John Hughes, and Eliza Harris.  Upon the recommendation of a doctor in Dallas, John H. Cochran moved west to a higher and drier climate because of the chest injury received in the Civil War.  In 1893, John H. Cochran bought a horse ranch in the south central part of Nolan County, near Decker, from Franco-Texas Land Company.  His sons, Tom, Jack and John, came to Nolan County to assist in operating the ranch and bought additional lands.  Their father moved from Dallas to the ranch in 1894 and engaged in farming and livestock raising.  John H. Cochran and his sons soon changed the horse ranch into a cattle ranch and later to both cattle and sheep.

John H. Cochran was elected County Judge of Nolan County in 1896 and served three terms, but he declined election for a fourth term.  He was active in political affairs and worked hard toward having the county seat of Nolan County moved from Sweetwater, which is on the north edge of the county, to Maryneal, a more central location.  The vote favored, by a very small margin, leaving the county seat at Sweetwater.

In 1906, Mr. and Mrs. Cochran built a large two-story ranch home in the Decker community that still is a landmark in the county.  The house is a Victorian-type, frame building which was restored and improved in 1960 by G.W. Cochran, a grandson.  In 1912 John H. Cochran was alternate delegate to the Baltimore Convention, which nominated Woodrow Wilson for President.  In the latter years of his life, he gave his ranch property to his sons Jack and John.  He spent the winter months in California and the summer months with his sons and their families.

His last active work was the compilation of a History of Dallas County, at the request of the Dallas Historical Society.  The publication of this history was nearing completion at the time of his death in Sweetwater, October 21, 1928.  He is buried in the Decker Cemetery, along with his wife who died June 22, 1917.

"Without rethoric or exaggeration, the career of John H. Cochran is not only honorable to himself, but a credit to the state in which nearly all his life has been spent." Quote From:  The Encyclopedia of the New West.

Source:  "First 100 Years Nolan County Texas"

Submitted by:  Janie Healer Davis